Editing PDF files? Ridding yourself of a powder coat?

[rockgardenlove]

Is there a way to edit PDF files to add pads, etc?

And is there a way to get rid of a powder coat finish without sanding?  I just wanted to check before I spend the next 5 years of my life sanding away at this.

[sfr]

If the PDF file isn't locked, you can open it up in Illustrator or Photoshop.  (And several other programs, I'm sure)  Some PCB layout programs can import a PDF as a background layer, as a guide to re-draw over it.  Of course, if you're not adding much, I've had good luck blowing the thing up on a photocopier, adding the extras by hand, then shrinking it back down to size.

[Pushtone]

And is there a way to get rid of a powder coat finish without sanding?  I just wanted to check before I spend the next 5 years of my life sanding away at this.

I hear ya brother! I can  barley put a dent in it with steel wool before clear coating over it. I could not imagine sanding it off! 

I would try paint thinners to get it off, or paint strippers.

Powder coat is paint in powder form, without the thinners needed for liquid paint to be sprayed and dry.
After liquid dries and powder melts they should be essentially the same.

Paint thinner.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

It probably makes a difference whether it is epoxy powder or polyester powder.
I believe some powder coat problems are removed by tumbling with an abrasive, so perhaps if you have access to a cement mixer you could put the box in with some sand & water & see what happens!

[rockgardenlove]

Thanks for the tips.  I'm doing pretty well so far, I've been using 180 grit sandpaper and it's performing alright.  I'll try the paint thinner too.  It's a Crybaby btw, I'm gonna have PPP refinish it in powder.  I think a baby blue would look great on it. 

[pyrop]

Thinner with a high % of "MEK" aka "Methyl ethyl ketone" will take it off without any dramas!
I used a thinner with a mix of MEK & Toluene to clean some powdercoated wheel rims,
well the powdercoat went to bare steel in seconds!!

pyrop

[rockgardenlove]

Uh, I've got some regular old lacquer thinner...
What are the chances of that working?  I'd rather not have to go to the hardware store (not old enough to drive alone yet ).

[pyrop]

Uh, I've got some regular old lacquer thinner...
What are the chances of that working?  I'd rather not have to go to the hardware store (not old enough to drive alone yet ).

No harm in trying!!
Just don't sniff to many of those fumes... i.e. Don't do it inside.
Try adding some thinner (about 1/2") into a plastic container with a lid, put in the case (top down), put the lid on and come back to it in a hour.
With any luck the powdercoating should be all soft and bubbled.

pyrop

EDIT: BTW a lot of lacquer thinners usually contains both MEK and Toluene

[rockgardenlove]

I'll give it a shot then!

Thanks for the idea!

[Ronsonic]

About the only chemical stripper I would expect to do any good is the "Airframe stripper" at your local discount auto parts store.

Ron

[Morocotopo]

ATTENTION!!!!!!

Uh, I've got some regular old lacquer thinner...
What are the chances of that working?  I'd rather not have to go to the hardware store (not old enough to drive alone yet ).

No harm in trying!!
Just don't sniff to many of those fumes... i.e. Don't do it inside.
Try adding some thinner (about 1/2") into a plastic container with a lid, put in the case (top down), put the lid on and come back to it in a hour.
With any luck the powdercoating should be all soft and bubbled.

pyrop

EDIT: BTW a lot of lacquer thinners usually contains both MEK and Toluene

Thinner dissolves some plastics, so DON´T use a plastic container!!!!
Don´t ask how I know....

Morocotopo

[Dirk_Hendrik]

Just checked,

Paint Shop Pro opens PDF's as well

[Seljer]

If you really can't find a way to open it, open up in Acrobat, take a print screen, then paste the image into whatever graphics program you use and edit it there (make sure to get the dpi right when printing though)

[rockgardenlove]

Photoshop is working pretty well...I tried it the first time, and it didn't work, but now it does!  Hoorah!

[Barcode80]

i hand drill and a stripping disc works well on powder coat. 3 - 5 bucks at wal-mart for the disc

[rockgardenlove]

Again, I can't drive around so this stuff is significantly more difficult.  But next time I go to the hardware store I'll pick one up.  Thanks for the tip!


Photoshop didn't work quite as well as I first thought...
The part on the left is the edited PDF...on the right is the original form ROG.

Lame.

[Tony Forestiere]

Re-import the file into PS at the highest reolution possible; or import it into a vector based application.

[Pushtone]

Photoshop didn't work quite as well as I first thought...
The part on the left is the edited PDF...on the right is the original form ROG.

Lame.

What you talk-in' bout boy! Dat theres look-in' just fine...










for tracing that is....



Take ya all of 20min to trace over the image (make sure its scaled right first) with the LINE tool.
If you wanted it to be superfly you could use Photoshop PATHS, but thats better done in a vector art app.

First clean up what you got. Use the LEVELS command to boost the blacks and whites and loose the grays.
Now hit it with a little UNSHARP MASK. Don't ask why its called UNSHARP? It sharpens. OMH

Make a new layer over the image of the traces and go to work with the line tool tracing the traces.
Hold down the shift key while drawing to limit the line to right/45 deg.  angles.

Make another layer over that and draw the pads using the CIRCLE SELECTION and fill with 100% black.
If you make a mistake, use the ERASER tool. Use more layers to make editing easier.

A Quick, dirty, save-able, editable, and universal file format for your own PCBs.


You should be able to get a better import than that. Make sure your rasterizing at 300dpi.
Or just Trace it and be done with it!


I'm sorry in advance if I have offended any angry cowboys. 
Pushtone

[rockgardenlove]

I kept the default resolution as I thought that changing it would mess up the sizing...
If I make it higher won't the sizing change when I print it?

[KHStudio]

I just imported a PDF into Photoshop for the first time last week... it looked the same as yours until I increased the pixels/quality, then all was good... even the size didn't change when I printed it out. Try it out & do a test print for comparison to the original. It works.

Kevin